Hi everybody,
I joined this forum just yesterday, and my first post was actually a question concerning the comparability of some Head rackets.
Well, I thought it may be nice to introduce myself with some pictures of (most of) the rackets I've been and am currently using. I recently cleaned out the basement at my parents’ house, and found all this long-forgotten stuff. But some background first: I was born in 1978, and I'm from Germany. Of course, no later than 1985, tennis quickly became immensely popular, with Boris and Steffi leading the way. My dad had been playing tennis since the late 70ies, but in the summer of 85, I think I really registered this game for the first time (before, it had always and only been football, or "soccer"). I wanted to play tennis now, too, and at the age of 6, I got my first racket. It was a Boris Becker Youngster racket, and boy, was I excited! I don't exactly remember how long I played with the Puma, but next I got a Head Junior racket, must have been in 88 or 89, I think.
Because my dad was really into tennis, he frequently tried out and bought new rackets. I remember a lot of Puma, Head, Prince, and Wilson rackets lying around in the basement, where he had set up a little work shop with a stringing machine. This also stirred my interest, so when I got older, I started playing with some of the rackets he no longer used. The first one was a Prince Graphite Pro 110, but this one didn't last me long - we went to the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf in 1990, and I begged hard enough to get a Wilson Ultra SL. Only to find out that I didn't really want to play with this racket when I took it to the court... It even still has the original strings... No, then and there I decided that Wilson rackets were not for me (even though I later played briefly with some original Pro Staffs, of which dad had quite a lot over the years, but I never turned these over into my racket arsenal).
Next thing I remember, we had some Prince CTS rackets lying around. I got a Graphtech DB 90, which was my main racket for a long time. I studied the Prince catalogue and the racket tests featured in "Tennismagazin" and learned that the Approach 90 did not only look cool, but was also right at the top of the Prince collection, next to the "Thunderstick". Great that my dad didn't care much for this racket, so I snagged it up. I quickly found out I didn't really like the thickness at the hoop, so this wasn't more than a brief experimental phase.
to be continued...

I guess I could have continued playing with the Graphtech, but there were so many rackets in our house, it was impossible to resist. So I talked with my dad and pointed out that I wanted a racket with a slightly larger head (than the Graphtech's 90), and a smaller grip. The Graphtech had grip size 3 (4 3/8), and it was the "cool" thing to use more than one overgrip, making the grip very soft, but of course, also quite large, at least too large for me. My dad's hands were/are bigger than mine, so it was difficult to use these grip 4 (4 1/2) rackets. He offered me his Head Elite Master 660, on which he had the pallets exchanged for ones in size 2 (4 1/4). This was a perfect fit for me - I really loved this racket! It had the double wedge technology, which made for a thin beam in the lower and middle sections of the string bed, and it just felt great swinging. I wish Head would think about reintroducing some of their old rackets in a "classic" line; maybe one different model in a limited issue every year. I'm sure there would be more than enough people interested...
I also saw some Prestige rackets in my homely shop, and they looked just awesome. I got two different Prestiges, one was a second generation Pro and the other a classic 600, I believe - unfortunately, these two rackets were missing when I made my unforeseen discovery. And I remember they were stuffed into a nice Adidas racket bag (Stefan Edberg collection) from the late 80ies!
However, when I was about 16, my interest in tennis vanished almost completely. I stopped playing regularly, and while I got some more Prestige rackets in the following years (600 and 660), never really thought of playing seriously again. I only saw a court maybe once or twice per year until I graduated from school, and then I went to university, where other sports were much more fun (floor hockey, soccer, working out at the gym, and even some badminton).
to be continued

Fast forward to 2009, when I meet some new colleagues who are really into tennis. They are talking about the elegance of Federer, and how they like his style over Nadal’s, and what a great rivalry this is. I had only followed grand slams during all this time, but never with the same interest I had as a kid and teenager. My interest was woken again, and I started to watch some tennis on TV. And I really have to say this: Watching Federer play did something for me: I wanted to go out and play tennis myself again! First thing to do was easy: Find some friends who are also into tennis. Second thing turned out to be a little more complicated: Can I still play with my Head Prestige Tour Team 660? This was, at that time, the only racket I had available (I had not yet made the discovery of my other rackets at home). So I went to a local tennis shop (in Münster) and asked the guys. Earned a good laugh and was told that the old racket would probably be worn out and may crack easily. I saw walls completely covered with rackets, and I thought “why, this is not a bad thing at all…”. Tried out some rackets, and settled for a Microgel Prestige MP (it was nice to learn that the Prestige was available in a MP version…). I played a little in the summer of 2009, and the Prestige felt really great. When I had good positioning, that is… My foot speed is not really great, but I didn’t care too much about beating other guys on the court, to me, finally playing again was so much joy already, and I could just swing out with this racket, it was simply great. But I had to change jobs twice in the next two years, which included moving to different cities, where other things came first, and opportunities to play were rare.
By 2011, I had settled safely into a new job. Again, some colleagues are into tennis as well, and we get to play about once per week. I thought that the MG Prestige MP was “old” by 2011 and may well be replaced by another racket. Plus, maybe there was something a little more forgiving when I didn’t reach optimal positioning. Add to this the feeling that I simply wanted to have more options to choose from, and I started to look out for new rackets again. I demoed and got a Prince EXO3 Tour (18x20) and a Pacific XForce. But these rackets didn’t give me the feeling I had when I used the MG Prestige MP. I found out that the MG Radical MP had a very similar mold to the MG Prestige MP, and I got two, without demoing, from two different web shops. Then I wanted to have something with a more open string pattern, and next came two MG Radical Pros. And for good measure, I also got two LM Radical MPs (with which I haven’t played yet).
to be continued

I feel that I’m well equipped now (although I’m already looking forward to what Prince is going to release next year). – Maybe you had some fun reading this little story, I certainly had fun writing it!

I feel that I’m well equipped now (although I’m already looking forward to what Prince is going to release next year). – Maybe you had some fun reading this little story, I certainly had fun writing it!

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for a very entertaining story and a lovely collection. By the way, I think you should try to hit with your old Heads, they should be great and there is no reason why they should break. I guess the boys at the tennis store just wanted to sell ;-) (but better get an opinion from guys who know more than me about old frames)

Thanks, Frinton!
- I decided to "retire" my old Head rackets: The grommets on the Elite Masters are completely shot and disintegrate upon being looked at, and the suspension grips on the Prestiges are too big for regular play, and I can't exchange them easily. The only thing I did was put Head leather grips on these old "treasures", maybe a bit irrational, but the original grips were no longer nice to look at...
Have a nice Sunday down there in Switzerland, and greetings from Lüneburg!

Hi klementine79,
thanks! I'm enjoying posting and reading on this forum already!
- Right now, I like the MG Radical Pros the most. And I'm eager to play with the LM Radical MPs, as I just got them new. The Prince EXOs are also nice. So these are the rackets I'm currently using / about to use. However, I also ordered a stringing machine, as I would like to experiment with different strings a little. I think my arm likes multis a lot more than polys, so I have my MG Radical Pros strung with Kirschbaum Touch Turbo (1.25 mm, 22/20 Kilopond - sorry, all in metric units) right now. On the Prince EXOs, I currently have a hybrid (Solinco Vanquish/Tourbite, at unknown tension...) and a Kirschbaum Spiky Shark (1.25 mm, 22/20). The LM Radical MPs came with Head Synthetic Gut, so I'll have them restrung soon. I want to try Prince Premier Attack and maybe something from Signum Pro (Micronite).
Best regards
Alex

I´m from Lima Peru as a junior i played first with a pro kennex then with a wilson staff then wilson ultra fpk and ultra graphite in late 90s i played with these:
and after 6 years of hiatus i return to the courts in 2008 with:
the of course i switch to the Gts